1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an air bag which is inflatable to restrain a occupant of a vehicle during a collision. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air bag for moving an out of position vehicle occupant sideways in the vehicle during inflation of the air bag, prior to full inflation of the air bag.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vehicle air bag is typically folded and supported in the instrument panel or steering wheel of the vehicle. To restrain a vehicle occupant in the event of sudden vehicle deceleration such as occurs in a collision, an inflator assembly is actuated to direct high pressure gas into the air bag. The air bag unfolds and inflates. The inflated air bag restrains forward movement of the vehicle occupant.
It is preferable that a vehicle occupant be seated in a vehicle seat, close to or against the vehicle seat back, at the time of actuation of the inflator assembly. An air bag is typically designed to inflate rapidly enough to be completely inflated by the time an occupant in this properly seated position moves forward enough to contact the air bag. Thus, the air bag is able to restrain the forward movement of the occupant without itself imparting unnecessary force to the occupant.
However, a vehicle occupant may not be in that ideal position at the time of actuation of the inflator assembly, i.e., may be an "out of position" occupant. For example, a passenger side air bag is typically folded and stored in the instrument panel on the passenger side of the vehicle. A child standing near the instrument panel on the passenger side of the vehicle may be injured by an inflating passenger side air bag. Specifically, the child may be so close to the air bag that it is still inflating at the time it contacts the child.
Further, air bags are typically folded and stored so that the central portion of the air bag inflates first and moves away from the inflator assembly in a direction toward the vehicle occupant. A vehicle occupant may be close enough to the air bag at the time of actuation of the inflator assembly that he or she contacts the air bag prior to full inflation of the air bag. The occupant is then likely to be contacted by the inflating central portion of the air bag. When this happens, the air bag continues to inflate around the occupant, and the force of the inflating air bag is imparted to the occupant.
Accordingly, it is desirable to inflate an air bag so as to minimize injury to an out of position vehicle occupant caused by an inflating air bag.